Project Description

During the past two centuries, with the majority of the surface of our planet already explored, civilizations around the globe have striven to expand the sphere of human economic influence upward. This trend began with the first skyscrapers of the 1880s and has continued through the birth of commercial aviation and commercial satellites, each of which drives billions of US Dollars in annual revenues while creating infrastructure vital to the modern way of life. Although some may contend that with geostationary satellites in orbit 36,000 km above sea level our economic sphere has reached its maximum range, there are compelling reasons to believe this is not the case, and that in the near future – rather than simply in dreams inspired by science fiction – we will see commercial activities expanding out into cis-lunar space and beyond.

This paper will examine the new markets and market niches that may exist for commercial services on and near the Moon, with a focus on markets projected to develop over the course of the next 15 years.

This paper was first published as part of Space Commerce, The Inside Story, published by the Aerospace Technology Working Group (ATWG) and included on this site through the courtesy of ATWG, ISU and the individual authors.